Health

A noninvasive technique for visualizing the maternal and fetal blood circulation in the placenta, color Doppler ultrasonography, is described and evaluated. Results are presented from studies of 30 pregnancies, five of which were complicated. With this method, it is possible to determine the resistance and pulsatility indexes (measurements that indicate the development of abnormal blood flow patterns) in individual arteries of the fetal and maternal circulation. These indexes are presented in tabular form. In the complicated pregnancies, maternal defects could be distinguished from fetal abnormalities. Color Doppler ultrasonography was also able to provide diagnostic information in some cases. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Transfer ofinulin across the first-trimester human placenta

Article Abstract:

Measurements of drug levels in fluid from the pregnant mother's abdominal cavity may be used in place of fetal blood samples to determine a drug's ability to cross the placenta. Researchers used the inert substance, inulin, to compare levels of inulin in abdominal fluid samples from the mother to fetal fluid samples. Inulin was injected into nine women who were six to 12 weeks pregnant and who were having elective abortions. Inulin was found to cross the placenta in pregnancies of at least seven weeks although higher levels remained in the mother.